The Placement of a Story

The decision by the editors of the Huffington Post to place the writers' strike at the top of the masthead yesterday reflects (in my opinion) an understanding of exactly why this fight matters. It did not reflect, as has been both humorously and impatiently suggested by some comments I read, a sudden and overweening disconnection with the greater horrors of the day, both politically and socially. Nor did it necessarily suggest that the editors are Hollywood-addled and quivering watchers of the entertainment business. They would probably admit to these qualities cheerily. Duality is everything, as is being able to shift your weight. And, yes, the pages of the HuffPo often resembles a horrific cocktail party in the smoggy and listless hills above Sunset Boulevard; a Babel of preening and swanning show-offs. I know. I am, sadly, one of them. But then again, it casts a wide net, does the HuffPo,and for those of you who like to read the end of western civilization into this, I say to you, as I say to myself almost always these days - 'think again but slower this time'.

The act of attempting to break the union, which seems to have been the zero-sum game played thus far by the studios' representatives, has wide-ranging implications for how you and I relate to corporate gigantism. Let me give you an example: Most of the mass media reporting of the strike has been largely unsympathetic to the WGA. That's because the owners of those news sources happen to be mainly the same companies the writers are fighting with.

Newspapers and local stations also take in vast sums from movie and television ads, so there is a quiet and insistent hesitancy when it comes to being critical of the hand that feeds them. The studios have framed the debate, gotten ahead of it, and now we have many people commenting on HuffPo about the spoiled and over-paid mediocrities who write TV and movies. The fact that the future livelihood of thousands of families is at stake does not really come into the reporting. The actual income of the majority of writers in the business does not come into the reporting.

For instance, in any given year, over half the members of the WGA are unemployed. They rely on residuals to pay mortgages and tuitions. To maintain middle-class lives. But the major media, married to, or owned by the conglomerates that also own the studios, has successfully gotten ahead of the story, and 1-2-3, turned what would should be a dialogue about how we earn our wages into something much less important. The studios have been able to deflect the public from examining what it is to be an individual who is not fairly compensated for the work they do, while the corporation that produced it reaps endless streams of profit from said work.

Let me put it this way: If your child were a writer, who was lucky enough to sell one script, and then hit a long and painful dry spell - then that child - under the terms proffered by the studios and networks, would receive virtually nothing every time that movie or TV show aired online or was downloaded. The less ownership workers have in the products they create benefits mostly a handful of media-giants, such as NewsCorp, Warner Brothers, Paramount, and Disney, (where my own TV show Brothers & Sisters is produced, and where -- I must note -- the studio executives treat me with patience, respect and generosity.) In conversations with executives, they muse sadly and skeptically over the studios' proposal that it is going to take three years to study the profitability of on-line streaming and downloading while, at the same time, the CEOs paint rosy pictures for stock holders about the great new opportunities that have been developed.

That's why I am saddened by the tone of derision present in so many comments on the placement of the Writers Guild Strike story. It reflects a contempt that I think would not be present if the authors actually were truly well-informed about the implications at hand. I think most of the sarcasm would most likely be replaced by the idealism that lives in most Americans who crave fiscal justice.

And to the people who commented today that after years of watching garbage on TV, no new TV shows for a while seems like a blessing, I can only say, smiling, "I understand." Yes. The miasma is sickening. The numbing mediocrity of so many aspects of what passes as entertainment is a horror, and a pollution. I agree. And we are gonna pay for that, and already are in an uneducated and unmovable and cynical polity. An eternally distracted citizenry. But THAT is not the issue. At all. And for every dull and listless bit of programming, there is still a Sopranos, a The Wire, a West Wing, a Dexter, a Brothers & Sisters (I must, forgive me, fire-away...), a Six Feet Under and a a Mad Men to consider. An All in the Family. Should the writers of those shows be denied what they are due in the future? Because a percentage of what we see and make is arguably toxic? Not the issue at hand.

But I think this is: This is the first time in years that writers are standing up for the economics of the author's voice as a principle, and it's the first time in years that a challenge to giant-media corporations is being thrown down in a way that scares the owners. As we move into the 21st century, it is important that the monopoly of those giant corporations be challenged from within and without.

At Brothers & Sisters there are young writers starting out. They have no foothold yet, barely in the door. What is their future going to be like? There are writers with children and families and medical expenses, just like anyone else in this country. They are not rich. There is one writer at my show who had not worked for a couple of years, simply because there are not that many jobs when you're starting out. Yes, they are well paid compared to many in America, God knows. But screenwriters should be paid fairly and proportionally, and to stand for that does not mean you are abdicating any greater societal concern.

And the placement of the discussion on the top of the HuffPo page yesterday, reflected the broader attempt to inform readers in ways that the story is not being told elsewhere. Just like every other story on the Huffington Post. Which is why you come here.

Tomorrow morning, I will be joining my fellow writers on the picket line. (To be continued.)

Read more thoughts about the strike on Huffington Post's writers' strike opinion page

Comments

[Sundialsvc4]

I ultimately think that the writers will only get what they deserve if they find a way to do what Prince did some years ago: retain ownership of the work and license it for use. In other words, the material is no longer 'a work made for hire.'

This would unavoidably mean that the person who is buying your product could choose not to buy it. If "Bollywood" can make films in India, perhaps they can write scripts, too.

If we look at the media market, though, we can all see that it is diversifying, and slipping from beneath the fingers of the media monopolies. Can you find a way to write for YouTube?

[creekside]

I stand behind the writer's right to fight for their share of residuals in any media.
My problem is that these days so many writers also take a producer credit and gladly accept the added paychecks and perks that go along with that title.
This is their right, but as a below the line worker in the entertainment industry I cant help but feel that when they walk out as writers they should forefit their producer checks as well. Then they would truly be proleteriate and worthy of our support.

[Primadonna]

Once again ... it's sad to see the divisiveness displayed in these comments. How in the hell is our country ever to come together if we don't share a bit of empathy or compassion for the next person?

I am a journalist that took on two of these corporate behemoths because they stole my intellectual property ... I know first hand how they manipulate, and in my case just outright took what wasn't theirs, and can keep the little guy in the legal system for an eternity. And if you think our legal system is justice for all ... you're quite mistaken ...

New technology should always be factored in when one's work is being reproduced ... what's fair is fair. I don't understand the I've got mine and fuck the rest of you mentality ... that is precisely what is being played out by our present administration. It all interconnects and caring about the next guy eventually does trickle down to impede in some way in all of our lives.

Jon - as I've said before ... you're writing is superb and may you be back at it sooner than later.

[YellowPanties]

Great article, hopefully it will educate some of the dummies who keep trying to equate the WGA strike with Pakistan's crisis.

Good luck on the strike, I hope the WGA gets everything they are asking for.

[csavage]

Boo-Hoo is right..
People can live without TV...they can't live without air traffic control, garbage collection, education, healthcare, police, fire or EMS, even workers in the much castigated energy industry.

Please show me where ANYONE is your industry has protested the low pay given to teachers. You guys have chosen to participate in an "eat what you kill" industry. It's not our fault you're not happy with it now.

[NoPCZone]

Stick it out. Bleed them dry if you must. If the NY-LA Writers Union breaks, what does that say about the future of representation in the rest of our nation? In the end it's about FAIR compensation for work- the common thread of all unions and guilds.

Every step backwards was paid for by predecessors, sometimes at great cost and will have to be re-claimed in the future.

[macNnyc]

Couldn't agree more on the monopoly of our news, information and entertainment controlled by 6 coporate bullies....
WHICH is why we must not only support the WGA strike but must also make sure that the FCC does not railroad new rules that it's coporate shill of a chairman wants to change in DEC allowing these giant to own more.

for more info Watch THE BILL MOYERS JOURNAL

[duggie]

You seem to want us to believe that writers do not CHOOSE to be writers, that instead they are innocents captured in rural America and carried to coastal cities to be slaves in the entertainment industry, just like textile workers in Malaysia. BOO HOO.

[noamjunior]

Since most of the blogs here on the subject seem to be written by members of the writer's guild, here is an opinion for all you that might be interested in a non-Hollywood writer's perspective of the strike

http://www.celebitchy.com/7299/predicted_consequences_of_the_writers_strike/

[Ducandy]

Oh boo hoo. You lazy bastards make tons of money and think you are so above the rest of us.

Bite me.

Get a real job, you lazy bastards.

[NYCchamp]

I have been pleased with what seems like more dramas on TV this season. Shows like Cane, Heros, 30 Rock, The Office, Life, Dirty Sexy Money, Boston Legal, and yes...Brothers & Sisters are a much appreciated alternative to the garbage reality TV that floods the airwaves.

I hope this strike ends fairly for all and soon...so I am saved from more episodes of hte Age of Love and the like.

[JeffFisherandAlGore]

To Jon

I enjoy reading your column.

Accept the Absolute Truth.

Now the truth can be told

Absolute truth is BayPoint School

http://blog-omotive.blogspot.com/
http://janeewadeshalwendachrist.blogspot.com/

[avergejoe]

Jon,

Its like this, where are the writers when 'blue collar' workers strike?

[grappolo]

This is more like it Robbie-
Keep it simple. And stick to the important points, which are economic not artistic.
1) What residuals mean to people who work erratically. The average person who is not in the entertainment field does not always understand this.
2) How management presents numbers to their stockholders. Look at Frank Biondi's quote in the NY Times today. Then ask him what his golden parachutes have been. Then discuss it with the stockholders.
You get the picture.

[mpgarr]

I have some friends who work in the entertainment business doing some of the "grunt" work kinds of things you see flasing up in the credits like being "best boy grips" and stuff like that--they are not rich by any stretch--they do "OK" by the standards of the rest of America, but having to live and work in the SoCal area--they have homes that cost them nearly a million dollars, homes that if they were located where I live here in the "corn/flyover" state of Ohio---they could get for say--$125,000 (perhaps a bit more)---they are looking at a bleak time if this strike goes on for very long-and like the Blogger says---this issue has relevance for us all---and it goes to show that those who run our big businesses--really do want the whole pie and don't want the rest of us peons to even have crumbs any longer---

I think of chorus of the old song Tennessee Ernie Ford was famous for singing: "St. Peter, don't ya know that I can't go--I owe my soul to the company store!"

This strike, if it goes on for a considerable length of time, is going to hurt a large number of people--not just the writers who are going on strike-and to that--I do think the writers deserve fair compensation for residual uses of their "intellectual property."

I don't shed any tears over what the studios and their bigwigs are going to lose though---they always come out of things like this just fine--this little bump in the road just means they may have to put off purchasing quite as many high end items like their 50th vacation home, a fleet of new Bentley Continental GTs, a new G-5 jet or having Palmer-Johnson lay the keel on that 250' yacht they have been craving while the strike is on.